Sorry!

Too busy sitting on our new couch and/or parking in our new garage to blog!

North Carolina's Just Fine by Me

Operation 36-Hour OBX or Bust: Moderate Success

*only one tire was busted on this mission. Blame the Bodie Light House... Upshot of busted tire: we met friendly surfers from Montreal and a talkative Republican who relocated to the area at the top of the housing bubble.

In all, it was a lovely two days featuring great blue cheese, my first taste of the infamous Wahoo fish, listening to the waves crash by our deck, hiking the sand dunes with Mennonites, thinking about A Kingdom Strange, feeding leftover salad to a mess of turtles, and listening to a slew of podcasts (and the new Brandon Flowers' album on repeat).

The biggest drawback of the trip wasn't the drive or the AAA rescue; it was the damn bugs, which ate me alive. Why me, bugs? Do I taste like Ina's cheesecake to you? Don't you know how many calories I contain? Show some moderation!

Life Outdoors Pts. 1 & 2

In slimy news, Ben, underwater ally, has attracted a new porch pet.

For a few days now, we've been captivated by the amphibious doings of this fella, who I think of as Lester.

Japanese beetles beware!

Late last night, we even spotted him on one of our deck chairs, peering toward us through the blinds. Creepy!

In other out of doors news, we've succumbed to the nerdiest of Saturday evening activities. We watched LOTR vol. 3 with about 40,000 of our closest DC-area companions. Outside. While an orchestra played along. It was pretty awesome, even if I still don't fully understand the appeal of the precious ring. We had a Wegman's-based picnic, chatted with friends, clapped at the good parts. I got to wear my North Face for the first time this season, and Ben swapped Belgian brews with a like minded connoisseur. Place this in the category of Things I Wouldn't Have Sought Myself That Paid Off. Thanks for inviting us, Gillian!

Happy Labor Day

After a long week of work and a weekend filled with more work, we took off for some mountain air and off-site family nacho night activities.

Hope everyone had a relaxing day. Let's raise our glasses to more Mondays off! ;-)